Sirisena critical of Foreign Ministry for the way it handled Chinese vessel issue

By Rathindra Kuruwita

If Sri Lanka does not act with caution and professionalism, it will lose China as an ally, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) leader, MP Maithripala Sirisena said yesterday in Colombo.Speaking about the controversy surrounding the Chinese research vessel, Yuan Wang 5, Sirisena said that the government must resolve the crisis as soon as possible.

“The Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration lost the support of Japan as well. We need to be on good terms with all nations. Our foreign policy has been all over the place,” he said.

Sirisena said that the current foreign minister, Ali Sabry was an educated individual. However, the foreign ministry had to be streamlined, he said.

“It is obvious that decisions on the research vessel were taken without any consideration. We have to understand that this is a sensitive topic to both China and India. We really should not make an enemy out of either of them,” he said.

Sirisena said that the government needed to understand that social media was powerful and played a pivotal role in forming and shaping public opinion.

“Social media helped me a great deal when I contested against Mahinda Rajapaksa. It also completely undermined my presidency as well towards the end. We must learn lessons,” he said.